Heel coating apparatus



June 4, 1946. E. E. WINKLEY 2,491,395

HEEL COATING APPARATUS Filed July 4, 1944 lnvenfor Frasius E TX/z'nk ley s H ne Patented June 14, 1946 HEEL COATING APPARATUS Erastus E. Winkley, Lynn,

Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J a corporation of New Jersey Application July 4, 1944, sem No. 543,453

8 Claims. 1

This invention relates to an apparatus for coating shoe parts and is herein illustrated as applied to an arrangement for coating shoe heels with a lacquer or the like which has been atomized or otherwise .converted into a vapor.

Certain shoe parts must be coated after they have been incorporated in the'shoe and frequent- 1y this must be done without coating the adjacent shoe parts. One particular example is found in shoe heels which are to be lacquered after they have been attached to the shoe and, while the coating may be applied either by a brush or by prises a box or chamber having an opening into which the heel may be projected. Preferably, this opening is surrounded by a packing ring which enables protection of the shoe upper without skill on the part of the operator and, at the same time, eflfects a tight closure of the chamber.

supplied in the form of a vapor from a connected source without scattering the material throughout the room.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of means for reversing the direction of the flow of coating material so that first one side and then the other side of the work may be treated. As illustrated, this means takes the form of interconnected valves controlling the inlet and outlet openings of the chamber and is associated with baflles arranged to control the direction of flow of the coating material to make sure that the various parts of the heel will be uniformly treated.

These and other features of the invention will best be understood from a consideration of the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a vertical section through the apparatus showing a shoe the heel of which is positioned therein; and

Fig. 2 is an angular view of the packing surrounding the shoe upper adjacent to the top of the heel, with part broken away to show its contact with the breast of the heel.

This facilitates the treatment of the heel by material A box In providinga hollow chamber is suitably supported in any desired fashion (not shown) and is provided with an inlet opening l2 connected to a source of vapor I through which air may be drawn to pick up the vaporized material and cause it to pass through the chamber and thence through an outlet opening l6., This source of vapor may include such vaporizing arrangements as a carburetoror an atomizing device, neither of which is shown because they form no part of the present invention.

The passage of the coating vapor through the chamber is effected by means of a suction pump It designed to create a partial vacuum within the chamber andto produce a circulation of the vapor constituting the coating material. Such a vacuum arrangement is advantageous in that it avoids any scattering of the coating material as the work is inserted or withdrawn and, furtherrounded by a ledge 22 and, on this ledge, there is supported a flexible packing ring 24 of rubber or the like which, in the-particular form of the apparatus which is herein illustrated, has an opening shaped to receive the heel of a shoe and is curved at 2 B to fit the adjacent portion of the upper of the shoe with the edge of the ring sharpened at 21 to enter the rand crease. Across the breast of the heel, this packing material is tapered, as shown at 28, to permit the coating to be applied all the way up to the top of the breast face. When a shoe S is presented to the apparatus, it usually will be mounted upon a last 30 and,"as the heel 32 is passed through the opening 20, its tread face will preferably rest upon a partition 34 while the sole under the forepart of the shoe will rest upon a suitable shelf 36 projecting from the outside of the box "I. This partition 34 forms the bottom wall of a horizontal passage 31. Resiliently mounted side plates as are supported upon the box and help in keeping the shoe upright.

Inside the box is another partition Ill and between these two partitions ll-and ll is a valve 42 conteiningthe outlet opening I6 and provided with a solid portion having a curved surface M which may be turned to connect the outlet opening with either end of a passage 16 between the two partitions. Between the lower partition II and the inletopening I2 is another valve 4| havarouses ing a curved surface II to direct the incoming vapor to either the left or the right in a passage l2 beneath the lower partition. For convenience. these .valves 42 and 48 are made to rotate together by meshing pinions M, and a handle II is provided to facilitate their simultaneous change from one position to the other. In the position of the valves which is shown, the vapor will be directed along the course indicated by the arrows shown in solid lines to impinge substantially normally upon the curved periphery of the back of the heel and then to pass out through the opening It. During this travel, a portion of the vapor will be deflected by bellies 60 and 62, thereby to insure a uniform coating. of the whole height of the heel. Later. the valves may be turned to cause the. vapor to travelalong a path indicated by the dotted arrows, so as to impinae upon the breast of the heel substantially normally to the surface thereof and to travel through the left portion of the passage 4 and thence to the outlet opening I6. Thus directed, a portion of the vapor will be deflected by a curved baiile plate N which is positioned adjacent to a projecting portion 66 of the partition 24. By reason of this change of direction of part of the vapor, the whole breast of the heel will be uniformly treated.

, In the use of the apparatus, a shoe heel will be passed through the packing ring 24 and the opening 20 till preferably its tread face rests on the partition 24 so that this tread face will not be subjected to the coating material. The vapor, being caused. by actuation of the handle 56, to pass first in one direction and then in the other through the upper chamber under the impulse provided by the suction pump II, will uniformly coat the peripheral surface of the heel. By making the packing ring 24 out of flexible material, it will fit closely around the heel regardless of its exact shape and size and fully protect the upper of the shoe as well as the shank portion of the tread face of the sole from the application of coating material. This action will be facilitated by reason of the partial vacuum existing within the chamber.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a device for coating shoe parts, a chamber, said chamber having an opening into which a shoe part may be inserted so that it projects into the chamber, means connected to said chamber for supplying amixture of air and liquid coating material in the form of moist vapor to said chamber, and means also connected to the chamber for sucking the vapor from its, source through the chamber, thereby to'create a stream of vaporized coating material impinging on the side of the shoe part and depositing its liquid component thereon.

2. In a device for coating shoe parts, a chamber having only three openings, means for delivering a mixture of air and coating materail as .vapor to an inlet opening of said chamber, means 4 connected to an outlet opening of said chamber for creating a partial vacuum to draw the vapor from its source through the chamber, the third opening into said chamber receiving a shoe part inserted therein so that it projects into the stream of coating material, and means for sealing the opening around the shoe part to improve the vacuum.

3. In a device for coating heels, a chamber having intake and exhaust passages. means for causing a vapor of coating material to pass through said passages and across the chamber, and bafles in the chamber to cause the vapor to take a predetermined course, said chamber having an opening through which a heel may be inserted into the course of the vapor.

4. In a device for coating heels. a chamber hav- 1 8 intake and exhaust passages through which a vapor of coating material may be drawn across the chamber, means in the chamber to cause the vapor to take a predetermined course, means for reversing the direction of flow of the vapor, said chamber having an opening through which a heel may be inserted into the course of the vapor, and means for sealing the opening around the heel.

5. In a device for coating shoe parts, a chamber having an opening through which a part of a shoe may be inserted, means for causing a stream of coating material in the form of vapor to flow through said chamber alternatively in reverse directions, and baflles in said chamber adjacent to the shoe part to direct the flow over the entire surface of the part.

6. In a device for coating shoe parts, a chamber having an opening through which a shoe part may be inserted, means for creating a partial vacuum to draw a stream of vaporized coating material through said chamber, means for directing said stream into contact with the shoe part substantially normally against the surface thereof. and a packing ring surrounding the opening and engaging the shoepart to seal the opening around it "I. In a device for coating heels, a chamber having an opening through which a heel may be inserted, means for sucking a vaporized coating material through said chamber for contact with the heel, and a packing ring surrounding the opening, said packing ring comprising a rubber annulus the upper surface of which is concave so as to fit the convex portion of a shoe adjacent to the rand crease, and the inner edge of which conforms to the periphery of the heel.

8. In a device for coating heels, a chamber having a passage joined to inlet and outlet openings, valves in said openings, the upper wall of the passage having a work opening through which the heel of a shoe may be inserted, said passage having a bottom wall upon which the heel may rest, and means for supplying vaporized coating material to the inlet 01 1 8. said valves being operative to reverse the direction of flow of coating material in said passage.

' ERAS'I'US E. WINKLEY. 

